The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines (Filipino: Ang Simbahan ni Jesucristo ng mga Banal sa mga Huling Araw) refers to the organization and its members in the Philippines.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines | |
|---|---|
Church Building along Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City. It houses a Family History Center, LDS Employment Resource Center, Philippines Quezon City Mission Office, Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, Stake offices as well as a meetinghouse. | |
| Area | Philippines |
| Members | 833,045 (2021)[1] |
| Stakes | 123 |
| Districts | 56 |
| Wards | 770 |
| Branches | 486 |
| Total Congregations[2] | 1,256 |
| Missions | 23 |
| Temples | 2 Operating 4 Under Construction 4 Announced 10 Total |
| Family History Centers | 185[3] |
The Philippines ranks as having the most members of the LDS Church among countries in Asia (most of Asia's LDS Church membership is located in the Philippines) and the fourth most worldwide. In 2021, The Philippines also had most LDS Church members per capita in Asia.[4]
History
| Year | Membership |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 11 |
| 1970 | 4,603 |
| 1979 | 33,218 |
| 1989* | 213,000 |
| 1999 | 441,359 |
| 2009 | 631,885 |
| 2019 | 805,209 |
| *Membership was published as an estimated or rounded number. Source: Windall J. Ashton; Jim M. Wall, Deseret News, various years, Church Almanac Country Information: The Philippines[1] | |
The first contact the church had with the Philippines was in 1898 during the Spanish–American War. Two LDS men, Willard Call and George Seaman, who were part of the United States artillery battery, were set apart as missionaries and began to proselytize after being deployed to the Philippines. However, they met with little success.[5] Active proselytizing stopped at the onset of World War II.[6]
The first Filipino to join the LDS Church was Aniceta Pabilona Fajardo in 1945,[7] who was introduced to the church by Maxine Grimm, who was in the Philippines with the Red Cross in the aftermath of World War II.[5]
The Luzon Serviceman's District was organized during the Korean War under the Japanese Mission for American servicemen stationed in the Philippines. In August 1955, the district was then transferred to the newly organized Southern Far East Mission, under the direction of Joseph Fielding Smith, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.[5] During this time, Smith visited the Philippines. Due to legal issues, the LDS Church could not send missionaries to the country. Missionary work, however, was done by LDS servicemen and American residents, including Kendall B. Schaefermeyer, a returned missionary serving in the U.S. Navy.[5] He had baptized four Filipinos by October 1957 and was teaching more than 20 others.[5]
During 1960, Gordon B. Hinckley, then an Assistant to the Twelve, and apostle Ezra Taft Benson, visited the Philippines.[5] The purpose of the visit was mainly to see the work of the LDS servicemen groups, but they brought back encouraging reports of the missionary work being done among the native Filipinos.[5]
The church obtained official recognition in the Philippines in 1961 when Robert S. Taylor, president of the Southern Far East Mission, filed the paperwork with the Philippine government.[5] Subsequently, on 28 April 1961 in a meeting with servicemen, American residents, and Filipino members, Hinckley rededicated the country.[5] The first American missionaries (Ray Goodson, Harry Murray, Kent Lowe and Nestor Ledesma) arrived in Manila two months later.[5] One of the first converts after official recognition was the family of José Gutierez, Sr. By the end of 1961, six more were baptized.[5]
Due to growth that followed, the Philippines was organized into its own mission by 1967, with Paul S. Rose as the first president.[5] In 1969, the church spread across the islands, having the highest amount of baptisms compared to every other area of the world.[6] This led to the division of the Philippines Mission in 1974 into the Philippines Manila and Philippines Cebu City missions.[5]
The first stake in the Philippines was formed in Manila on 20 May 1973.[1][8] In September 2017, the number of stakes in the Philippines reached 100, only the fifth nation in the world to reach that milestone.[9]
Church president Spencer W. Kimball presided over two area conferences, one in 1975 and another in 1980.[5] During the area conference in 1980, Kimball met with then-President Ferdinand Marcos at Malacañang Palace.[5] In 1987, Manila became the headquarters of the church's Philippines/Micronesia Area.[5]
Augusto A. Lim, the first Filipino general authority, was called to the Second Quorum of Seventy in June 1992.[5]
In 1987, the Book of Mormon was translated into Tagalog by Ricardo Cruz, with the assistance of Posidio Ocampo and Ananias Bala in the final stages of production.[10] Since then, the Book of Mormon has been translated to several other languages of the Philippines.
On June 30, 2021, The LDS Church broke ground for Asia's first "For the Strength of Youth (FSY) Camp" located in Tanay, Rizal, near Manila.[11]
Notable people
- Lani Misalucha, singer dubbed as "Asia's Nightingale" by MTV Southeast Asia.[12]
- Eric Tai, a Tongan actor from New Zealand, model, TV host, comedian, and rugby union player who played for the Alabang Eagles and represented the Philippines national rugby union team in 15s and 7s.
- Jairus Aquino, a Filipino actor best known for his roles in Super Inggo, Kung Fu Kids, and Luv U.
- Xia Vigor, Filipina child actress
Missions
- Philippines Angeles Mission
- Philippines Antipolo Mission (July 1, 2019)
- Philippines Bacolod Mission
- Philippines Baguio Mission
- Philippines Butuan Mission
- Philippines Cabanatuan Mission
- Philippines Cagayan de Oro Mission
- Philippines Cauayan Mission
- Philippines Cavite Mission
- Philippines Cebu Mission
- Philippines Cebu East Mission
- Philippines Davao Mission
- Philippines Iloilo Mission
- Philippines Laoag Mission
- Philippines Legaspi Mission
- Philippines Manila Mission
- Philippines Naga Mission
- Philippines Olongapo Mission
- Philippines Quezon City Mission
- Philippines Quezon City North Mission
- Philippines San Pablo Mission
- Philippines Tacloban Mission
- Philippines Urdaneta Mission
Philippines Missionary Training Center
The Philippines has its own Missionary Training Center (MTC), where native Filipinos receive missionary training in their own language. The first MTC was dedicated on October 8, 1983, and was housed in a private rented residence. The second MTC was opened July 13, 1992, and stands across the road from the Manila temple.[13] In 2011, the MTC underwent extensive remodeling and was rededicated in May 2012 by Russell M. Nelson.[13] Other nations, including those listed below, send missionaries to the Philippines MTC to receive training in their native language.[14]
- India
- Pakistan
- Mongolia
- Cambodia
- Thailand
- Indonesia
- Taiwan
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
- Vietnam
- Malaysia
- Bangladesh
- Sri Lanka
As of January 2017, the MTC president is Rodolfo A. Carlos.[15]
Temples
Red = Operating
Blue = Under Construction
Yellow = Announced
Black = Closed for Renovations
Operating
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size: Style: | Quezon City, Philippines 1 April 1981 by Spencer W. Kimball 25 August 1982 by Gordon B. Hinckley 25 September 1984 by Gordon B. Hinckley 26,683 sq ft (2,478.9 m2) on a 3.5-acre (1.4 ha) site Modern adaptation of six-spire design - designed by Church A&E Services with Felipe M. Mendoza & Partners | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Dedicated: Size: Notes: | Cebu City, Philippines April 18, 2006[16] by Gordon B. Hinckley November 14, 2007 by Dallin H. Oaks[18] June 13, 2010 by Thomas S. Monson 29,556 sq ft (2,745.8 m2) on a 11.6-acre (4.7 ha) site - designed by Architectural Nexus and Recio & Casa Architects Announced by letter to local priesthood leaders in April 2006.[17] | ||
Under Construction
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: | Urdaneta, Philippines 2 October 2010 by Thomas S. Monson[19] 16 January 2019 by Jeffrey R. Holland on a 6.2-acre (2.5 ha) site | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: | Muntinlupa, Philippines 2 April 2017 by Thomas S. Monson[21] 4 June 2020[20] by Evan A. Schmutz on a 2.6-acre (1.1 ha) site | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Size: | Davao, Philippines 7 October 2018 by Russell M. Nelson[22][23] 14 November 2020 by Taniela B. Wakolo 18,450 sq ft (1,714 m2) on a 2.7-acre (1.1 ha) site | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: Groundbreaking: Size: | Bacolod, Philippines 5 October 2019 by Russell M. Nelson[24] 11 December 2021 by Taniela B. Wakolo 26,700 sq ft (2,480 m2) on a 12.3-acre (5.0 ha) site | ||
Announced
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: | Cagayan de Oro, Philippines 1 April 2018 by Russell M. Nelson[25] | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: | Tacloban City, Philippines 3 October 2021 by Russell M. Nelson[26][27] | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: | Naga, Camarines Sur, Philippines 2 October 2022 by Russell M. Nelson[28][29] | ||
| edit | ||
| Location: Announced: | Santiago, Isabela, Philippines 2 October 2022 by Russell M. Nelson[28][29] | ||
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Facts and Statistics: Statistics by Country: Philippines", Newsroom, LDS Church, retrieved 13 April 2021
- ^ Total Congregations is the sum of wards and branches and does not include member groups which is a smaller and/or more temporary congregation of members than wards and branches.
- ^ The Philippines Family History Centers, familysearch.org, retrieved April 24, 2022
- ^ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints membership statistics
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Philippines: Church Country Information". Mormon newsroom. Retrieved November 17, 2013.
- ^ a b The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Temples
- ^ Gonzalez, Joaquin Jay (1 February 2009). Filipino American Faith in Action: Immigration, Religion, and Civic Engagement. NYU Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-8147-3297-7. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ "Country Information: Philippines", Church News Online Almanac, Deseret News, February 1, 2010, retrieved 2012-10-18
- ^ Pioneering Members Help LDS Church Reach 100-Stake Milestone in the Philippines, LDS Church News, 11 Sep 2017, retrieved 2018-06-08
- ^ Church News
- ^ Rappleye, Christine (July 6, 2020), "Construction begins in the Philippines on 1st FSY camp in Asia", Church News, Deseret News, retrieved November 3, 2021
- ^ Leach, Robin (December 11, 2009). "Photo Gallery: Mayor declares Dec. 4 as Lani Misalucha Day". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
- ^ a b Church News
- ^ Church News
- ^ "First Presidency calls 7 new MTC presidents", Church News, November 10, 2016
- ^ Bigelow, Christopher Kimball (20 August 2019). Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Simon and Schuster. p. 551. ISBN 978-1-68412-782-5. Retrieved 13 July 2022.
- ^ "New Temple Announced in Cebu, Philippines" (Press release). Newsroom – The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 29 April 2006. Retrieved 2015-05-06.
- ^ Baluyot, Cherry (17 November 2007). "Cebu temple — Groundbreaking in Philippines". Church News. p. 5. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
- ^ Taylor, Scott (October 2, 2010), "President Thomas S. Monson opens conference by announcing 5 new temples", Deseret News, retrieved 11 November 2012.
- ^ "Small-Scale Groundbreaking Held for Alabang Philippines Temple", Newsroom, LDS Church
- ^ "President Monson Announces Five New Temples: Mormon temples to be built in South America, Africa, Philippines and US". Newsroom. LDS Church. 2 April 2017.
- ^ "Twelve Temples Announced as October 2018 General Conference Closes: Number of temples operating, announced or under construction now above 200", Newsroom, LDS Church, 7 October 2018
- ^ LDS Church announces plans to build 12 new temples worldwide, pioneer generation temples will be renovated, KSTU Fox 13, 7 October 2018
- ^ "President Nelson Announces Eight New Temples at October 2019 General Conference", Newsroom, LDS Church, 5 October 2019
- ^ "Seven Temples Announced as April 2018 General Conference Closes: Mormon temples to be built in Asia, Europe, North and South America". Newsroom. LDS Church. 1 April 2018.
- ^ "13 new temple locations announced by President Nelson as conference closes", Church News, Deseret News, 3 Oct 2021
- ^ "At the October 2021 General Conference, the Prophet Says the Church Will Build 13 More Temples", Newsroom, LDS Church, 3 Oct 2021
- ^ a b "President Nelson announces 18 new temples, including 4 near Mexico City, as conference closes", Deseret News, Deseret News, 2 October 2022
- ^ a b "The Church of Jesus Christ Will Build 18 New Houses of the Lord", Newsroom, LDS Church, 2 October 2022
Additional reading
- "The Philippines: Spiritual Strength upon the Isles of the Sea", Liahona, April 2014
External links
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Newsroom - Philippines
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Philippines) - Official Site
- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Visitors Site